You have to hand it to DC: they know how to translate their characters to television for live action.

Sure, it started with the Batman serials, and then the Superman serials, and then the various incarnations of Superman on television (the most recent of which was Smallville), but the new crop of shows they’re doing only has one flaw: they’re all in different universes.

You have Arrow and The Flash on the CW and as a backhanded compliment, they’re also adding Vixen to this universe, but only as an animated show, and only as an online series. On Fox, there’s Gotham, the Batman-that-isn’t. And then there’s Constantine on NBC. Four shows on three different networks. (Yes, I can count, and no, I’m not counting Vixen.) And now, Lucifer may be getting life.

I still maintain that Warners is doing it wrong in not having a single, cohesive universe for all of their live-action fare. I understand in not wanting to be seen as a follower by doing what Marvel is doing, but there comes a time when one thing has to be realized: Marvel is doing something right.

DC (so far) can’t compete with Marvel in theaters. Marvel has been ruling there for a very long time, after closing the gap and then pulling away from DC and the lead they had back in the day. (You can only lean on Superman and Batman in theaters for so long, rebooting them only so many times.) Since DC can’t compete in theaters, they’re doing damage on the small screen. Right now, Marvel can’t compete there very well, because the same thing they have as a strength is also hindering them.

Having a single, cohesive universe is preventing Marvel from taking full advantage of their vast character library. Everything has to fit within the vision. If you make a live-action sitcom out of Squirrel Girl, then that has to fit in the overarching Marvel Cinematic Universe.

DC isn’t beholden to that same strategy, so they are more free to tell whatever stories fit the character, and only have to maintain internal consistency/integrity.

I didn’t read Lucifer as a comic. I didn’t see the need for it. I don’t know if the character is rich enough to support a television series. TV is like night and day when compared to comics. While, as a comic reader/collector, I’m very happy that more comics are coming to television, at the same time, I want the properties that do make it to do well. There’s a reason why Wonder Woman didn’t make it to television in a new incarnation (although I would have loved to have seen Adrienne Palicki as Diana).

So, I’m cautiously optimistic about Lucifer on television. Would it inhabit the same universe as Gotham? It’s possible, seeing as how they’d share a network if it got picked up for a series, and it would be very easy to do.

All we can do is wait to see if it makes it to order. Ordering the pilot is only the first step.